Perfect borders made easy

With a little bit of time and just a few supplies, you can make this easy and fun Pencil Flower Posey. It’s sure to brighten the day and the desk of your favorite teacher.

Below you’ll find five simple flower designs to try, using four different Fiskars craft punches. I encourage you to look in your tool box, grab a few of your favorite punches, do some experimenting, and try making some designs of your own. There’s so much variety in the world of flowers – let your imagination go wild and create all sorts of lovely blooms.

Start by selecting a few coordinating papers to work with. Text weight works better than a heavier card stock weight paper. Thinner paper allows you to use more petals in your bloom and it’s easier to manipulate.

The basic assembly for all the flowers is the same. Just punch out the petals and flower center, stick your pin through the flower center, through the ends of the petals and into the pencil eraser.

What will vary is the petal and center shapes, and the petal folding and manipulation techniques.

For this first bloom, use your Block Party squeeze punch to punch out eight petals. Also, punch one Scalloped Circle and three May Flowers for the flower center.

Turn you squares diagonally and fold the sides inward to create a “kite” shape.

Push your pin through three stacked May Flowers, the Scalloped circle, each of the eight petals, and into the side of the pencil eraser.

For this ruffled bloom, punch out five XL Circles and eight Scalloped Circles. Fold seven of your eight scalloped circles in half.

Fold a tiny pleat in each of your XL Circle petals to give them a little dimension.

To assemble, push your pin through the center of the flat Scalloped Circle, then through the tips of each folded Scalloped Circle, and finally through the pleats of the large Circles. Stick the pin into the top of the eraser and fold the tips of the folded Scalloped Circles forward.

This next design is an easy one. Just punch out seven Circles and one Scalloped Circle. Fold each Circle in half, and crease. Push your pin through the center of the Scalloped Circle and through the tip of each folded Circle. Finally, push the pin into the side of the eraser.

To create this fourth boom, punch out eight Circles and five May Flowers. Fold your Circles in half and use your thumbnail to make a sharp crease in ONLY the bottom third of your half circle. Run the pin through the center of your May Flowers and the creased end of each petal. Insert the pin into the side of the eraser.

For the fifth bloom, punch six Circles and one May Flower. Fold a large pleat in the center of each Circle. Stick the pin through the center of your May Flower and through the pleat of each petal, and into the top of the pencil eraser.

Once you’ve created all of your flowers, decorate a clean, empty soup can with coordinating paper to use as your “vase”.

Arrange the Pencil Flowers in the vase and share it with your favorite teacher.